Is it worth expat professionals taking a chance on Indonesia?

Is it worth expat professionals taking a chance on Indonesia?

Is it worth expat professionals taking a chance on Indonesia?

Indonesia’s fast-growing economy has resulted in increasingly attractive options for expat professionals with specialist skills.

On track to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Indonesia is now an interesting option for expat professionals with specialised skill sets, although the immigration procedure is still somewhat third world. Bureaucracy, work permits, ever-changing regulations and confusing labour laws are complex but, once surmounted, can lead to a rewarding work experience.

Expats considering Indonesia as their next career-boosting experience should realise that, in a similar manner to the Gulf States, the Indonesian government’s priority is to reduce the country’s local unemployment totals. Basically, this means both foreign and domestic companies are being strongly encouraged to hire locals to fill vacant positions rather than bringing in experienced professionals from overseas. At the present time, expats are prohibited from working in the health, safety, legal, human resources and environmental sectors unless there are exceptional reasons for hiring a foreign professional. As a result, just arriving in the country and attempting to find work is a useless exercise unless you’re a recognised expert in your chosen field.

Even so, the vast majority of expats working in Indonesia are employed by foreign firms or are working in the expat sector, but the recent arrival of the e-commerce and tech start-up sector has brought overseas talent and foreign entrepreneurs to fill the gap left by a lack of tech-oriented education. Other exceptions to Indonesia’s tough visa rules include teaching English, and older expat professionals are found in the mining and oil/gas sector working as engineers, consultants and developers.

For expats considering reassignment to Jakarta, patience is an important requirement, as the bureaucratic process takes a huge amount of time and trouble to complete. Spending this time studying the country’s culture is a practical idea, as is simply leaving your employer to jump through hoops to ensure you’ll actually start work some time in the future whilst you enjoy your amazing new location and all it has to offer!

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